Presto Academy

Shivad Singh , South Africa

Shivad cofounded Presto Academy in March 2014 to make knowledge more accessible to students. Over 100,000 students have been reached through Presto Academy to date. Presto Academy’s vision is to use student-based teaching to provide a world-class education to all South Africans. Using a peer-to-peer learning model, Presto Academy assembled students who had achieved a top grade in subjects such as science and maths to write new textbooks for students who would be taking those same courses. This helps to make learning more accessible for students and to raise their aspirations for their personal achievement potential. Shivad and his team decided to publish and print their titles themselves and so they established Presto Books as a publishing company. As well as publishing and selling textbooks, Presto Academy has made its content available on an online platform that has more than 180,000 users. Presto Academy has also published titles on study skills and mindfulness to help students manage the jump from school to university. Presto Academy works on a One for One business model where for each study guide purchased, Presto provides the same content for free to a learner in need.